Let's just say a little bird told me that this article concerns a hospital has had a huge problem with Hispanic immigrants coming in to have their babies delivered. It is not uncommon for these patients (and their families) to

1. Speak (or at least pretend to speak) not even a single word of English.
2. Have no insurance.
3. Offer no place of employment, no cell phone number, no home number, and often not even a home address.

This is the case even when English speaking family members or facility translators mediate. So, it can't just be chalked to a confusion over the language barrier.

Up until recently, they have always been offered care regardless of the ability to pay.

One factor that complicates the problem at hospitals everywhere in the US - and I imagine many people are unaware of this - is the fact that Hispanics have a convienent "cultural" characteristic that influences the course of their pregnancies: ie, in this culture, it is considered the norm for pregnant to avoid contact with their baby for about a week after giving birth. During this "recovery" period, the woman is expected to be completely bedridden and be waited on hand and foot. Often, any given physical pains or discomforts she has will be verbally exagerrated (sometimes quite dramatically so). It is expected that those caring for her to drop everything to attend to the most minute details of her hourly and even minute-by-minute needs.

As I said, during this time period (again, it is typically a week or so), the mother avoids contact with the baby altogether. Someone else is expected to care for it.

Now, I'm not criticizing this practice in and of itself by any means. In fact, I can see how the nuances of it would encourage strong family participation and/or community-building every time a childbirth occurs. What I would like to point out here, though, is that this cultural phenomenon is probably sucking the healthcare industry completely dry of all its resources. It's one thing to stay for up to a week in a hospital after you give birth - even to the extent of requiring both a room for yourself as well as a separate bed for your baby in the nursery, for an entire week, when nothing out of the ordinary is wrong with either the mother or the baby.

But when this is being done in record numbers by people who are consistenly refusing to pay for their care (and pregnancy is NOT a cheap procedure!), AND these people are being rewarded (I mean, accomodated) for it, AND they are having MULTIPLE pregnancies...well, you can figure it out for yourself: Is this really a good thing for our society?

This article, although it doesn't mention Hispanics explicitly, does refer to a "changing demographic" and a "a [growing] uninsured population that the [doctors] on staff just can't handle" at this particular hospital.

Well, all of the doctors at this hospital have decided that they've had enough. They have all LEFT this hospital, refusing to provide care any longer for those who refuse to pay and simultaneously crowd up the system.

As a result, this hospital's entire labor & delivery department has been shut down.

While I APPLAUD their decision to stand up to this problem, I also find it tragic that such an act should even have to occur. What's next - will entire hospitals be shut down? Is this one of those "net benefits" of unchecked immigration?

this is what happened in California where they had to shut down 84 world class facilities across the state because of the 'anchor baby' situation.....

now we see that CA is completely broke and can't pay unemployment to Americans, how much do you want to bet they're not stopping payments to illegals as in food stamps and SSI, etc?

if we can't reverse this invasion, the entire country will end up like CA: a violent broke piece of crap, and when the economy crashes, are the illegals going to have jobs and food and we will be in tents and hungry?

in Ca, the mexicans get hired at companies until they can get a mexican/latino manager who then fires Americans or makes them quit and then refuses to hire Americans, that's what is going on....

this is our future: there are tent cities all across this country full of Americans who have lost their jobs and homes, while illegals have jobs and food stamps, and free medical, etc., it is treason...